Women’s Rights

Women’s Rights According to America’s Parties

By Hannah Kalin Edited by Manisha Kumar

In the history of the country of the United States, only four women have appeared on the presidential ballot for a major party. One, Hillary Clinton, in 2016, as president. The remaining three as vice president. Clinton as well as Geraldine Ferraro (1984) and Kamala Harris (2020) were all chosen by the Democratic party. Sarah Palin (2008) is the only female Republican to have achieved the feat100. To date, no woman has ever been the president or the vice president of the United States. Given this information, where do both parties stand on women’s rights and issues?

The Democratic Party Platform has a page dedicated to “women”. That page contains the following quote, “[Democrats] are committed to ensuring full equality for women. Democrats will fight to end gender discrimination in the areas of education, employment, health care, or any other sphere. We will combat biases across economic, political, and social life that hold women back and limit their opportunities”101. This quote, on the official party platform, shows the Democratic Party’s verbal and written commitment to helping promote equality between genders.

Former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, has a section of his election website dedicated to “the Biden agenda for women”. Biden’s agenda includes but not limited to: improved economic security (including equal pay and expanding access to education), ending violence against women, and helping women navigate work and families102 .

Contrarily, the Republican platform does not have a women’s section, nor does President Trump’s election website. As president, the Trump administration stopped an Obama-era rule from taking effect that was meant to help close the wage gap. As of now, he has not replaced it with anything more viable. In terms of ending violence against women, Trump has rolled back several programs and protections designed to help women and vulnerable people103. During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump promised policies supporting and empowering women — however, it has yet to be seen104 .

On the topic of reproductive rights, Democrats lean pro-choice, whereas, Republicans lean on the side of pro-life105. Interestingly, President Trump was pro-choice

100 “Women Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates: A Selected List.” Center for American Women and Politics, September 28, 2020. 101 “Women.” Democrats. 102 “The Biden Agenda for Women.” Biden Harris.

103 Khimm, Suzy. “Trump Halted Obama's Equal Pay Rule. What it Means for Working Women.” August 31, 2017. 104 Frothingham, Sunny and Shilpa Phadke. “100 Days, 100 Ways the Trump Administration Is Harming Women and Families.” April 25, 2017. 105 Keane, James T. “Explainer: If Joe Biden Wins, What Does That Mean for Abortion Policies?” October 6, 2020. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/08/18/biden-harris-abortion-2020-election.

in his earlier years, even hosting a pro-choice fundraiser in 1989. It was only when he began thinking about running for president in the early 2010s that he declared himself pro-life106 . This may be a result of Trump choosing to run as a Republican and allying himself with the party’s 72% (in 2016) of pro-life voters107. This is only furthered by President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett is not only staunchly anti-choice, but is also against infertility treatments such as IVF108 .

Joe Biden’s views are the opposite of Donald Trump’s. Biden has stated that while he opposes abortion, he would not oppose others from being able to receive one — stating, he doesn’t believe he has “a right to impose [his] view on the rest of society”. In the past, he has voted to end funding for abortions for rape and incest victims. In a letter he wrote, “those of us who are opposed to abortions should not be compelled to pay for them”. Since the writing of this letter, Biden’s views have changed. With Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination, he has promised that if elected he will do whatever he can to keep Roe v. Wade legal (the Supreme Court case that ruled abortion legal) if overturned by the Supreme Court109 .

Women’s views of both candidates can be seen based on polling. Women favor Biden over Trump by 11 points110

106 Alter, Charlotte. “Here’s What Donald Trump Thinks About Women’s Issues.” August 5, 2016. 107 “Abortion Trends by Party Identification. 108 Burkhart, Julie. “Amy Coney Barrett's extreme views put women's rights in jeopardy.” October 13, 2020.

109 Przybyla, Heidi. “Joe Biden's long evolution on abortion rights still holds surprises.” June 4, 2019.

110 “New Poll: Suburban Women Will Not Vote for Trump.” September 14, 2020.